Baltimore pastors clash on same-sex marriage

Annie Linskey

Baltimore pastor Donte Hickman took exception to a statement made in the Huffington Post Friday by Baltimore pastor Jamal Bryant who was quoted saying church leaders supporting same-sex marriage are "hypocrites."

Clergy should be able to debate theology and politics "without devolving into backyard name calling," fired back Hickman, the pastor of the Southern Baptist Church in Baltimore, who supports same-sex marriage.

Hickman said that "legislating" one's view of the Bible is a slippery slope. "Should adulterers, divorcees, multi-racial [couples], or atheists be denied equal treatment under the law?"

The back-and-forth is the latest in an intensifying campaign on same-sex marriage, one of four controversial items on the November ballot. Supporters and opponents of the new law have both purchased television time in October.

Bryant, who founded and leads the Empowerment Temple, was quoted in the Huffington Post story saying that he is "working tirelessly" to defeat Maryland's same-sex marriage law at referendum because it "is in opposition to my basic biblical beliefs that marriage is between a man and a woman."

Bryant added: "The role of the preacher is to defend the bible and to advance it." He could not be reached for this story.